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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/25592911">Read me like a book (and kiss my pain away)</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/QueenC/pseuds/QueenC'>QueenC</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Liberty High meets the X-Mansion (aka the Mutants AU) [1]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>13 Reasons Why (TV)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alternate Universe - Mutants, Canon Disabled Character, ChalexWeek2020, Fluff and Humor, M/M, healer!Charlie, mentions of TBI, telekinetic!Jess, telepath!Alex, the Chalex X-Men AU</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-07-29</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-07-29</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-05 05:20:47</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>2,809</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/25592911</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/QueenC/pseuds/QueenC</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Alex has a problem with recurrent headaches ever since his TBI. Luckily, Charlie is usually around to help him through it.</p><p>(Or, the Mutant AU no one saw was coming.)</p><p><strong>Chalex Week 2020, day 3:</strong> alternative universe</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Charlie St. George/Alex Standall</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Liberty High meets the X-Mansion (aka the Mutants AU) [1]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1911001</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>35</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>94</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Collections:</b></td><td>Chalex Week 2020</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Read me like a book (and kiss my pain away)</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>I took one look at the theme and was like "hmmm did you say alternative? I take this as permission to go wild"<br/>AND HERE WE ARE. Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters meets 13RW. TA-DA!!</p><p>Things to know before reading:<br/>- Alex is a telepath, Charlie is a tactohypnologist (he influences people by touching them), Jess is telekinetic.<br/>- They're still teens and haven't fully mastered their powers yet.<br/>- Alex's thoughts are stressed in italic and bold.</p><p>With that in mind, I hope you enjoy this story! I sure as hell enjoyed a lot writing it.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Alex was no stranger to headaches. </p><p>He was indeed quite used to them. Ever since his TBI, there wasn't a day they didn't pay him a visit, even if for a short period of time, even if not too severe in intensity. For a while now, he had grown used to having a lingering heaviness at the back of his head, ever-present, constantly reminding him that it could develop into a headache at any time. On most days, he wasn't fazed. The pain was usually bearable, and while it was a nuisance to try and focus on his powers with the constant pounding to his head, it was something he had forced himself to get used to. He usually was able to put it aside and go about his life. </p><p>But then again, he usually didn't feel like his head was being split in two. At this exact moment, Alex could barely open his eyes — even the flimsy light filtering through the dirty kitchen windows was enough to shoot a flare of pain through his brain. He let out a groan, placing his half-empty mug back on the table almost blindly. Herbal tea used to help him on the less critical days. Today it was doing nothing but annoying him with its watery taste. </p><p>He pressed his palms against his face, trying to assess his surroundings. On such days, of severe headache Alex's powers tended to be all over the place. He couldn't focus enough to get a grip on his telepathy, and it usually resulted in him listening in on everyone's minds in about a mile radius. It was a mess.</p><p>But it was all eerily quiet today, and Alex failed to understand why. It unsettled him a little. He didn't like it when things went off their usual course.</p><p>“Hey, you,” he heard Jessica's voice as she entered the kitchen and groaned in pain. Alex knew she was speaking at a normal volume, but it still felt like she was yelling. “Oh, wow, you don't look so good. What's going on?”</p><p>Alex rested his chin on his hands, long fingers splayed at the sides of his face. “Headache,” he croaked out, eyes closed. “Probably on the way to a full-on migraine.”</p><p>“Fuck's sake, Alex, why do you have to be so stubborn?” Jessica asked, exasperated. “We talked about this. There is zero shame in asking for help when you need it.”</p><p>“I thought it would be fine,” Alex defended himself meekly. He glared at her, but the intimidating effect was sorely lessened given that his eyes were opened to slits. “It started really small, and I wasn't even listening to anyone in my head to know it would grow so bad. Also, I can't just run to Charlie's door whenever my head hurts a little. I need to try and control it.”</p><p>“Is it hurting just a little?” Asked Jess skeptically. </p><p>“No, it hurts like a bitch,” huffed out Alex. “Would you please just stop yelling.”</p><p>“Ok, enough. I'm taking you to Cookies. I don't wanna hear a word about it,” warned Jess when Alex seemed like he was going to protest. “Can you walk? Do you need me to get your cane?” </p><p>“I'm fine, Jess,” Alex rolled his eyes — and immediately regretted this daring decision, for the motion made the entire kitchen spin. He placed his hands on the table to support his weight and stood up. Only to fall back to his chair two seconds later, looking surprised. </p><p>“So. Do you need me to get your cane?” Said Jess again, sounding between smug and annoyed.</p><p>“You make it really hard to like you,” muttered Alex, begrudgingly fond. “<em>Fine.</em> You're right, I could probably use my cane.”</p><p>Jess reached with her left hand to the side, eyes not leaving Alex. “You make it really hard to take care of you,” she chided. “Jesus, Alex. I don't know why you do this. You know Charlie would never refuse to help you out,” she reminded. Alex's cane came whooshing through the kitchen door into Jessica's outstretched hand, and she wrapped her fingers tightly around it.</p><p>“Yeah, yeah, you're right, ok,” Alex agreed, mostly to shut her up, and he could tell from her fulminating look she wasn't buying it. She walked over to him with a stern expression on her face, aiding him to stand up before passing him his cane. “It's just he's always helping everyone every time already. Doesn't he also deserve a break?”</p><p>“Every ability comes with its ups and downs. It's the first thing we learn here, remember?” Said Jess a little more gently. She wrapped one arm around Alex's back to support some of his weight on their way through the hall. “Besides, you know Charlie. He's more than happy to help, always.” Alex could hear the smile on Jessica's lips even without having to look at her to see it. “I dare say he gets especially happy if it's you who he's helping, though.”</p><p>“Shut up,” grunted Alex, trying to make his steps steady, palm sweating where it gripped his cane forcefully. “I'm not having this conversation with you while my brain is giving a shot at crawling out of my skull.”</p><p>“I'll give you an out here because I can see you're really in pain but we are so having his talk later,” warned Jess, stopping at a wooden door not any different from all the other wooden doors that lined the hallway. She knocked gently and turned to look at Alex, eyes concerned despite her teasing. “Get better, ok? I hate seeing you like this.”</p><p>Alex nodded, focusing on his friend's face not without effort now. The pain was growing worse by the minute. “Thanks, Jess,” he smiled faintly. </p><p>The door opened, revealing a disheveled Charlie peering curiously at them from behind the threshold. “Hey,” he greeted, eyes skimming through Jess to settle on Alex, concern written on each line of his face as soon as he caught up with what was going on. Alex felt a tingle at the base of his spine that had nothing to do with his incoming migraine.</p><p>“He's all yours,” chimed in Jess, disentangling herself from Alex with a wink before stepping away along the corridor. Alex almost rolled his eyes out of habit again but stopped himself from doing it last minute.</p><p>“Headache?” Asked Charlie with that soft voice of his. Everything about this boy was soft — his voice, his manners, his touch on Alex's skin. There might have some other reasons for Alex not wanting to run to Charlie every time his head started to hurt. It was way too easy to get lost on the younger boy's presence, all his senses overwhelmed with that well-known presence that was so unequivocally <em>Charlie</em>.</p><p>“Yeah,” agreed Alex, resigned to his fate. He lifted his eyes to Charlie, feeling them sting and moisten with the clarity coming from inside his bedroom. “I might need some help again.”</p>
<hr/><p>Alex was <em>purring</em>. There was no other way to describe it. </p><p>He laid across Charlie's bed, head propped onto his lap as the younger boy sat leaning against the headboard. Charlie's long fingers were carding through his hair in slow, deliberate strokes, deftly pushing his pain away. And Alex, well, <em>Alex</em>. He had given up on his dignity a while ago, the moment Charlie returned from closing up the blinds to diminish the glaring light inside the room. Then he had sat down on his bed and tapped the mattress expectantly, looking up at Alex with those wide, hopeful eyes of his. And even amid his pain, Alex could see — he was so goddamn beautiful. </p><p>Alex didn't put up any resistance. He'd crawled on Charlie's bed and obligingly rested his head against his thigh. </p><p>It didn't have to be like this. Honestly, all Charlie needed to do to brush his pain away was to touch him in any manner. At first, they used to do this with Charlie placing a comforting hand on his shoulder, or sometimes holding hands at best. Someplace along the way they had grown more intimate, more comfortable around each other, not only in moments like this but also expanding their friendship from beyond their classes and the eventual healing session. Alex wasn't entirely sure how it had developed to <em>this</em> but the fact remained that it had. And he wasn't complaining. </p><p>“Doesn't it hurt you? When you take my pain away?” Alex asked, voice barely above a whisper — but not from the pain this time. His eyes were closed, his sole focus on Charlie's hands moving through his hair. His breath caught when Charlie's fingers traced along his scars ever so gently. Alex remembered being so embarrassed the first time it happened. Now it just felt impossibly intimate. </p><p>“No,” answered Charlie, keeping his voice as low as Alex's. “It doesn't hurt me at all. But it makes me so happy that I can help you.”</p><p>“You say that to all of your girls?” Joked Alex, his mood positively improved now that the mind-numbing pain was gone. He heard Charlie laughing above his head, and felt his own lips curving into a smile.</p><p>“Well, I am happy that my ability allows me to help other people,” conceded Charlie. “But I don't know, it's different with you. I can't explain — it just is.”</p><p>Alex hummed in agreement, knowing exactly what Charlie meant. But elaborating on it was dangerous territory, so he kept to his thoughts instead. </p><p><em><strong>It's because I really like you, dickhead.</strong></em> </p><p>Charlie's fingers faltered in their movements. “What?” </p><p>“What?” Alex frowned slightly, hand reaching up to tug on Charlie's fingers to get them to move against his scalp again. “I didn't say anything.” </p><p>“You-- I just thought-- never mind,” sighed Charlie, sounding between confused and frustrated. Alex's frown deepened but when Charlie's movements restarted — when he reached between his eyebrows and smoothed the crease in his forehead, Alex melted entirely. It was hard to focus on anything else after this. </p><p><em><strong>I could spend my entire life like this. And I wouldn't grow tired of it.</strong></em> </p><p>He heard Charlie let out a choked sound and vaguely wondered what was going on with this boy today, but he didn't dwell in it longer. Charlie's touch was doing indescribable things to his insides, and it was so easy to let go of everything and just enjoy the feeling. </p><p>Alex never ceased to be marveled at the extent of Charlie's powers. Their teachers were sure that with time he would not only be able to comfort people with his touch — this seemed to be his natural inclination because he was such a damn ray of sunshine and thought of others even before himself. But the bottom line of his ability was that he could influence people by touching them. The theory was that if he put his mind to it, if he practiced hard enough, he eventually would be able to manipulate people's feelings and decisions. Wonder how that could be.</p><p>For Alex, this whole concept felt a little dishonest. Charlie managed to make his thoughts go haywire when he wasn't even putting an effort into anything but relieving him from his pain. The damage this boy couldn't do to him if he actually tried to make him feel good...</p><p><em><strong>He wouldn't even have to try too hard. If the way just his hands make me feel is anything to go by--</strong></em> </p><p>“Ok, Alex, just--” Charlie's voice interrupted his reverie, and he sounded flustered for some reason. Alex opened his eyes to look at him this time. His face was flushed, and his hands laid limply by his sides, not touching Alex anymore. “Don't fret, ok? I need to tell you something but you gotta promise you'll be chill about it.”</p><p>“Why did you stop?” Alex nearly pouted, reaching for Charlie's hand to place it in his hair again. But Charlie pulled away, still looking at him with a shocked expression. This pulled Alex's mind out of its stupor. “Charlie? What's wrong?” He lifted his upper-body on one of his elbows, twisting his body to look at the younger boy. </p><p>“I-- I don't know how to tell you this,” Charlie winced, eyes scanning Alex's face wildly. His cheeks seemed to have permanently assumed a pink shade. “Please, don't get self-conscious about it but you have to know... I think you are projecting.” At Alex's blank expression, Charlie added, “Your thoughts. I think you are projecting your thoughts to me.”</p><p>Alex remained stone-faced, finding it hard to understand Charlie's words at first. Not the technical part — he knew it was a thing for telepaths like himself to be able to communicate their thoughts directly into other people's minds. Only he had never done it before. It required a level of control he hadn't managed to master yet. </p><p><em>Or.</em> It could also happen if his control escaped him entirely. </p><p>Which he wouldn't be surprised to happen around Charlie and his damn hands.</p><p>And he'd been thinking — he'd been thinking about Charlie, hadn't he? How he liked to be around him. How he liked <em>him</em>, overall. How he liked his closeness, his touch. </p><p>
  <em>
    <strong>How I like his hands on me.</strong>
  </em>
</p><p>Alex watched in dismay Charlie's eyes turn as wide as saucers. </p><p>“You've gotta be kidding me,” said Alex mortified.</p><p>“Now calm down, I said don't fret--” Started Charlie.</p><p>“You have gotta be <em>fucking kidding me</em>,” insisted Alex stubbornly, and he was most definitely fretting. He jolted from the bed, trying and failing to stand up, and mostly just bouncing on the mattress into a sitting position. “How long has this been going on? Since when-- fuck, Charlie, are you doing this?”</p><p>“What,” said Charlie feebly. “What are you saying, I'm not the one who can read minds here,” he pointed out, waving his hands in Alex's general direction for emphasis. “I guess maybe -- you were thinking too loud?”</p><p>“There's no such thing as thinking aloud,” said Alex distressed, only to be contrary, because apparently there fucking was. He brushed his hand over his face, half hoping a hole to open on the floor and swallow him. “God, this is so embarrassing. What did you hear?” </p><p>“Um,” said Charlie eloquently. But it was self-explanatory. Alex flung himself backwards in the bed, covering his face with both hands and grunting his discomfort. Loudly.</p><p>“Fuck, Charlie, I'm so, so sorry. You were just trying to help me, and now I made it awkward by thinking stupid things, and fucking sending them to you--” Alex's voice broke, and never before in his life had he wanted so bad to just vanish. His headache was starting to make a comeback. He didn't know if this was because Charlie had stopped touching him or due to this unexpected turn of events.</p><p>Then gentle hands were on his, pulling them away from his face and entwining their fingers. Charlie's soft smile cut through his meltdown, the younger boy leaning closer to him where he laid ungracefully on the bed. “Hey. Breathe. I told you not to fret. I thought important to tell you because it's a new thing regarding your ability. But also because it was growing really hard to have you saying those things about me inside my head and doing nothing.”</p><p>Alex's face flushed. “I'm sorry--”</p><p>“I didn't say I didn't like it,” Charlie cut him off. “Not for once. The opposite, really.”</p><p>Charlie's eyes lingered on his for long enough to make sure his words had sunk in before he lowered his gaze to his lips. Alex felt his breath catching on his throat.</p><p>“Oh,” he said very smartly, gaze dancing between Charlie's blue eyes and his pink, soft lips. <em><strong>Fuck, his lips.</strong></em></p><p>“Oh indeed,” grinned Charlie, hands never leaving Alex's, tracing his thumbs gently over the back of his hands. “I'm just wondering — why didn't you tell me? I mean, with actual words?”</p><p>“I suck at actual words,” said Alex with a sigh, downcasting his eyes to his and Charlie's hands, together. His heart was doing funny things inside his chest. </p><p>Charlie let out an amused laugh. “Well, I don't. And if I knew that this was how you felt, I sure as hell would have said something sooner.” Charlie let one of Alex's hands go in favor of cupping his jaw, eyes bright and intent on Alex's, scanning his face for any signs of discomfort. “Is this okay?” He whispered. </p><p>Alex swallowed thickly. He had no words to express the amounts of okay that this was. His mind was a haze, so he locked eyes with Charlie and nodded his head emphatically. </p><p>
  <em>
    <strong>Kiss me.</strong>
  </em>
</p><p>And Charlie did. </p><p>(Alex could swear he'd heard a muffled groan when his unspoken words registered in the younger boy's mind. It seemed his newfound ability was a turn-on for Charlie. </p><p>He could barely wait to master it.)</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>I have to say this was probably the most fun I had writing something in a while. I'm hyped af and totally intend to write more to this verse, if you guys like to see it expanded further. Please let me know if you liked reading it as much as I liked writing it! Thoughts and prompts are so very welcome &lt;3</p></blockquote></div></div>
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